The World and Her Stars: One Shots

I Win, You Lose

(Post-war; Ron+Hermione, Rose+Draco are at a gala in America for work; and Draco exercises extreme restraint to receive a glorious reward; at this point, Leo and Nora are born)

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DRACO POV

Ron and I stood at the bar in the corner of the large ballroom, sipping on glasses of fire whiskey and chatting about work as our wives networked and mingled with legislators, political figures, and socialites looking for a way to better their own image. 

Rose and Hermione made it look easy, to be completely honest. Watching Rose so easily charm each person she met made me think back to how easily she had charmed me, and I couldn't help but smile at the memories that came flooding in.

The girls talked business while Ron and I's conversation had gone from work to chatting shit about the way Americans say certain words, and how their laws on apparition were much more strict than in England. 

Our weekend trip to America was actually pretty fun despite the small annoyances. 

Never did I ever think that I would say the words 'fun' and 'Ron Weasley' in the same sentence, but here I was. Turns out the bloke wasn't nearly as bad as I thought he was when we were growing up, and he's got quite the sense of humor to him when he's had a glass or two. 

During this little charity gala, Ron and I had started giving people nicknames, rather than bothering with learning their real names. We were here as plus ones, so we had no one to impress or introduce ourselves to. We were the arm candy for the witches from England that every sleazy looking man in a tacky suit wanted to speak with. 

It was funny watching different men try to flirt with Rose. Funny in that they had no idea that the ring on her finger meant she belonged to me, and the ring on my finger indicating that I belonged to her. Funny in that as they not so secretively checked her out in the dress that she was wearing, I was the one that would get to take it off of her that night. 

At the end of the day, I was always going to win. 

"You checking the brunette out too?" A voice beside me appeared, and not the one of the ginger I had been chatting shit with all night. 

"Pardon?" I asked, not sure if I even heard the man correctly. 

I turned to see a man in a grey suit with light brown hair spiked up at the front with entirely too much hair gel. He reeked of cheap cologne, and his shoes could do for a shine. Although his suit appeared to be tailored to fit much better than some of the other blokes in this ballroom, it still didn't look right on him. 

For some reason, he reminded me of that prat McLaggen, and I couldn't exactly put my finger on the reason why. 

"That brunette witch. Over there." the man tilted his chin in Rose's direction with a smug grin, "I mean, come on, man. I don't blame you if you were too. Her ass is incredible." 

Ron choked on his whiskey, spewing it up from his glass as he registered the random man's words. 

My eyebrows raised as I blinked a few times, trying to figure out just how I wanted to play this. 

I would go with my first instinct, but I don't think that Rose would be too fond of me hexing a random man's balls off in the middle of a work function that she and Hermione have been anticipating for a while now. 

So as Ron coughed the whiskey out from the wrong pipe, I collected my thoughts, most of which included this random git bleeding from the mouth, and I thought of how I could hurt him internally instead. A nice blow to the ego. A lashing of embarrassment so abrasive that he will wear the shame for days...maybe weeks if I'm lucky.